


And We Will Move With The Tides

by theweddingofthefoxes



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/F, Femlux, Genderswap, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-10-20 06:07:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17616944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theweddingofthefoxes/pseuds/theweddingofthefoxes
Summary: Aurelia Hux finds herself alone in a bed and breakfast at the ocean, except she isn't, truly. A woman named Ren begrudgingly runs the place with her sister Rey, and immediately catches Aurelia's eye. They both think all they want is to be left alone, but that, of course, isn't really the case.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A Femlux story to give us a taste of summer.

In the midst of the breakup, Aurelia Hux had completely forgotten about the beach house booking. This wasn’t like her; she normally remembered everything. She’d scoured the condo clean, removing every single object that her ex might claim as personal property, getting it all neatly packed into a big clear pink plastic tub with a click-lock lid. (She didn’t much like the idea of giving away the tub, but it was a small price to pay for a clean slate.) She’d unhooked herself from any account they had jointly owned -- luckily they didn’t have any bank accounts or anything like that together, just easy-to-detangle things like Netflix. Neat and clean. Meticulously cut apart. 

But somehow, the beach house had just slipped her mind entirely. It had been booked under her name, and she’d paid the deposit herself, with the understanding that her ex would pay the remainder when they arrived months later. It was the kind of place that Aurelia didn’t normally choose to stay in -- if it were up to her, she’d have picked something more luxe and impersonal, a high-rise where she could see the whole inlet from the top floor. Her ex had talked her into staying in a suite at a little beach cottage, though, rented out by some relatives who lived at the ocean full time in the downstairs apartment. “It’ll be romantic,” her ex had said at the time. But by the time Aurelia got a preparatory email from the owner, she’d been single for almost half a year.

 

__

_Dear Aurelia Hux,  
_ _Thanks again for booking with us! Check in is after 3 pm on 7/12 and check out is by noon on 7/19. We provide linens, towels, and an ironing board/iron. The kitchen is fully stocked with cookware and silverware, but not food, so please be sure to get groceries beforehand (if you’re not planning to visit the many restaurants on the block). The boardwalk and ocean are easy walking distance from the house. There’s only one available parking space (since we also have to park here), so if you and other guests planning to drive separately, someone will need to find street parking. No smoking, please. Please let me know if you have any other questions._

__

_-Dolphin House_

Aurelia sighed. It was too late to try to get a refund now, and what would else she do with the week she had already taken off? She supposed she could just spend it in bed, but more than a day or two of that left her feeling anxious and unfulfilled. Why shouldn’t she take advantage of the opportunity to stay at the ocean and enjoy some solitude? Aurelia clicked out of her email inbox, already daydreaming. The thought of sitting barefoot at some outdoor dining table with a plate of snow crab legs, a beer and a trashy romance novel seemed suddenly remarkably appealing -- no one to disturb her whatsoever, except for maybe the waiter appearing at her side and asking if she’d like another Corona. 

So. Dolphin House it was. 

The drive from Baltimore to the shore was unremarkable -- fast-food restaurants, miles of cornfields, billboards advertising speedboats, the bridge, farm stands. Aurelia stopped at one and bought a box each of strawberries and blueberries, and some caramels made by a local company. Somehow this purchase, which was far less than the money she spent on the tailored outfits she bought for work, or the groceries she bought at the organic grocery store, felt much more indulgent than anything she’d bought for awhile. Fruit to eat on the beach. Candy that she wouldn’t be expected to share. She stuffed a five in the tip jar by the display of flavored honey sticks and made her way back to her Lexus. 

She was in Ocean City by 3:30, and the thermometer on the dashboard read ninety-two degrees. Aurelia winced a bit at the thought that the little house might not have as good of air conditioning as the type of hotel she would have originally liked to book, but once more, there wasn’t much she could do about it now. 

Dolphin House sat in an awkward spot on the beach side of Coastal Highway, almost like it had been dropped from the sky like the Dorothy’s farmhouse. It was tucked behind a high-rise condominium building, so there was no visible view of the ocean from any window, though if Aurelia listened closely, she could hear the thrum of the waves above the sounds of traffic and people walking by. The front of the cottage faced not the road nor the condos, but instead seemed to stand sideways, ignoring both in favor of staring directly at the sub shop next door. The tiny concrete parking pad, as promised, had room for only three cars, and two of the spots were occupied, one by a nondescript silver Hyundai and one by a green pickup truck that looked like it had been attacked with a baseball bat. 

The front door chimed when Aurelia opened it, as if she were entering a little bakery or something. That feeling didn’t go away when she walked inside and got a whiff of two cookie-scented candles. They were placed on the check-in desk where a sweet-faced woman in her early twenties sat, looking intently at the computer screen before her. “Excuse me?”

The young woman’s head snapped up. “Hi, yes. Aurelia Hux?”

“That’s right.”

“You found us all right?”

“Oh, yes. I’ve been coming to Ocean City for years. I’m sure I’ve passed this place a thousand times before.” Aurelia pulled her suitcase closer, as if it were going to run away. 

“That’s good. It’s not really hard to follow a straight line, but you’d be surprised at how often people can’t find their way around.” The girl laughed. “You seem like you know exactly what you’re doing. Once you’re paid up, I’ll show you to your suite, and I’ll give you two keys, so your companion can have one once they catch up.” 

Aurelia cleared her throat. “That won’t be necessary. It’s just me.”

“Beg pardon?”

“I’m here by myself. Things changed since February, when I originally made the booking. I hope that’s not an inconvenience in any way.” Aurelia opened her wallet and withdrew the exact balance in cash, which made the young woman’s eyes go wide. 

“No, of course not,” she told Aurelia, a bit rushed. “Well. If you’d like to come get a cup of coffee in the morning with my sister and I, you’re welcome to, but that’s entirely up to you.”

“Your sister, hm?”

“I do all of the booking and reservations. She does the upkeep around the building.” She took the money and counted it out, then placed it neatly in the cash register before leading Aurelia out to the deck. “I’m Rey, by the way. I’m the one to call if you need the wi-fi dealt with or something. Anything else, you know, if your window won’t shut or your sink’s leaking, Ren can deal with that.”

“Ren. All right.”

They walked out into the punishing heat, the breeze carrying the scent of salt and cigarettes. The thought drifted, strange but satisfying, into Aurelia’s head. _I am home._

Up the wooden steps, which weren’t quite rickety but which sang with every step in a way that suggested the sisters would know all about Aurelia’s comings and goings, and Rey unlocked the door before handing over the key. A silver dolphin keychain hung from it. “She should be finished up, just about,” Rey told Aurelia, who nodded, gently pushed her way inside so her suitcase could get all the way in. “Ren?”

From within some space that Aurelia could only assume was the bathroom emerged the other sister, and it was all Aurelia could do to force herself to not stare. 

Politeness had a lot to do with it-- the woman had a newly-healed scar across one side of her face, and surely she’d had to deal with a lot of stares since whatever had happened that had given it to her. But this Ren was also pretty in a way that Aurelia could hardly begin to describe. Aurelia had always been tall, and always wore heels and high boots to emphasize it, but this woman was _strapping_. Ren and Rey shared the same doe-brown eyes and the sort of physiques that suggested they were used to work and being outside, but Ren was broad and muscled, long-legged, with thick black hair that fell down around her shoulders in a sort of unintentionally feathered way. 

Aurelia busied herself with making sure her suitcase was facing exactly the way she wanted it to face on its wheeled feet. “Party of two, right?” Ren asked, wiping something off on her jeans.

“No,” Aurelia said, so fast that it sounded snappish. “It’s only me.”

The sisters exchanged a swift but meaningful look. “Ms. Hux is already paid up,” Rey said pleasantly. “She’s probably tired from driving, so I’ll--oh, fuck! The candles!” Suddenly Rey was gone, the sound of her footsteps clambering down the wooden steps ringing headache-loud.

“She does that all the time,” Ren offered. Her voice was low, clear, straddling the line between butchy-tough and Hollywood vamp with a cigarette. “It’s amazing this place hasn’t been burned to the ground.”

“Reassuring.”

“The house isn’t worth anything. It’s the land.” Ren returned to the bathroom, her voice echoing as she continued. “I’d sell it for a hundred dollars and get the hell out of here, but that’d be stupid. The hotels are dying to get this place and raze it. They keep upping the offers.”

“They won’t forever.” Why on earth was Aurelia even participating in this conversation? She supposed she couldn’t fully turn off work mode, and Aurelia loved to negotiate with weaker sellers. 

“Try telling Rey that.” Ren stuck her head back out, watching Aurelia do a sort of awkward high school dance with her rolling luggage. “You’ve got fresh towels and linens. If there’s anything else, you can just hit 1 on that phone. It’ll connect you right to us.” She paused. “What happened to, ah?”

“Ancient history. I never canceled the booking.”

“You like doing things alone?”

“I did everything alone, as a child. It comes naturally.” 

Ren considered this. “My sister does make good coffee. You can have breakfast with us, at least. And then whatever you want, besides smoke.” It was like she knew about the pack of Camel Lights that was tucked away in Aurelia’s purse. “I’ll see you around.”

It was a long time after Ren’s footsteps had disappeared down the wooden stairway that Aurelia moved to sit down, or move at all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aurelia is quickly learning more about Ren, and Ren has no problems with moving fast.

The evening she arrived, Aurelia treated herself exactly as she wanted to, denying herself nothing. She took a leisurely nap, then changed clothes and walked down the creaking steps and made her way down the block, not looking for anything in particular but just wandering, unshackled from her schedule. It was nice to just _observe_. A pair of girls roller-bladed across Coastal Highway, laughing. An elderly woman in a pair of enormous sunglasses coming from the opposite direction walked her chocolate lab, who tried to lick Aurelia’s bare knees as they passed. “Down, Muddy,” the woman scolded, and Aurelia laughed in a way that she hadn’t in a long time. She passed a bar that advertised weekly karaoke nights, and a motel with a pool full of kids screaming as they played Marco Polo. At a 7-Eleven she finally stopped, bought herself a bottle of water and a can of coffee-flavored energy drink, then turned back around and headed back to the Dolphin House.

By this time it was just about sunset, and the white clapboards of the house were dyed neon pink. Aurelia returned to her room long only long enough to grab the things she had purchased at the farm stand and her Kindle and toss them in the bag with her drinks. The second time she clattered back down the steps, Rey was pulling into the parking lot -- evidently the shitty green truck belonged to her. 

“Heading out?” Rey called from the open window. 

Normally Aurelia hated when salespeople or employees wanted to know all about her business, but Rey just seemed so likeable, like she was already a friend who was genuinely curious. The question didn’t strike her nerves the way it might have from someone else.

“Just down to the beach.”

“Is your room all good?” 

“Couldn’t be better. I took a nap and woke up feeling good, which is a miracle all on its own.”

“You can thank Ren for that. She insisted we get one of those…” Rey’s face scrunched a bit as she tried to decide on the right way to phrase it. “You know. The kind of mattresses they advertise on podcasts.”

“Well, she was right.” Aurelia shouldered her plastic bag, feeling a corner of the kindle cover poking her side, as Rey climbed out of the truck. “You tell her so.”

“ _You_ tell her so. She’s down on the beach somewhere.” Rey turned to look eastward, though of course all that was visible was the enormous condo blocking their view. “She could use a compliment from a guest.” 

“Does she typically not get them?”

“No, it’s just--she’s not feeling the whole guest house thing. She’s not feeling super confident about it.”

Aurelia raised an eyebrow. “Well, if you don’t mind my saying so, shouldn’t she be free to do something else? It doesn’t seem like she particularly enjoys it.”

“The guest house was her backup for a long time. She was more into being a lifeguard.”

“Is she not anymore?” 

“Got into an accident last year. Now she won’t go in the water.”

Privately, Aurelia wanted to know if that explained the scars on Ren’s face, but she knew better, especially since something told her she already knew the answer. Instead, she asked, “So now she’s stuck?”

“In her head, anyway. She thinks if we take the money and run all of our problems will be solved. But I like it here.” Rey shrugged, tucking her hands into the pockets of the jean shorts that she was wearing. “Anyway. That was more than you probably needed to know. You just have this like, aura.”

“An aura?” That wasn’t what Aurelia had expected to come out of Rey’s mouth at all. She’d never believed in such things, but she still wanted to know. “An aura of what?”

“Command. Like you always know what to do next and what everyone else should do next too.”

“That’s because I do,” Aurelia said, so quickly that she surprised herself, and Rey laughed.

“See, that’s what I mean.” And then she headed back into the lower level of the house, leaving Aurelia to her thoughts and her snacks and the dazzling warmth of the early night.

The chair rental folks had already left for the night, so Aurelia just sat on the sand, spreading everything out around her -- the drinks, the caramels, the strawberries. If she’d had a real blanket or even a towel it would look a little more aesthetically pleasing. Instead, she placed them on the 7-Eleven bag, dug her feet into the still-hot sand, and pulled open the absolute trashiest book she had downloaded on the Kindle. _Deny yourself nothing, remember?_ she thought to herself, beginning the third chapter of Her Ravished Face. 

The first time she looked up, the pink in the sky had given way to a deep dark blue and Ren was coming up along the beach, her jeans rolled up to her shins and her dark hair loose around her shoulders. Yes, it was easy to picture her as a lifeguard, not the Baywatch type but someone with a swimmer’s broad shoulders and strong legs. Aurelia’s heart jumped, but she forced herself to look back down at the screen. 

“Planning to sleep on the beach?” Ren called, once she was close enough.

Aurelia still didn’t look up. “I slept all afternoon,” she answered. “No way I’m tired now.”

“No?”

“Eat some of these with me.” Yes, Rey. Commanding.

“They’re yours.”

“Mine to offer. Take some.” Aurelia pointed to the snacks. “The coffee’s mine.”

“That stuff’s total bullshit. I’d rather steal your water.”

“Suit yourself.” 

Ren called her bluff immediately, uncapping the water bottle and taking a swig as she sat beside Aurelia. “So you’d rather be out on the beach alone than out at the bars?”

“I came here to relax, not to get groped at Seacrets. At least not by men.”

“That’s fair.” Ren stretched. “I haven’t been there since I was about seventeen. I had a fake ID, but I got kicked out anyway. Some asshole put his hand up my skirt and I broke his wrist.”

“Goddamn right you did.” Aurelia picked up the coffee drink, held it out as if to toast, and Ren answered by tapping the water bottle gently against it. “So what do you do with your nights now, if not sweaty tourist clubs?”

“Nothing. Maintain Dolphin House. Think about how much time I’m wasting.” She gave Aurelia an odd look. “I’m sure your sister told you my whole life story. She can’t keep her fucking mouth shut about her charity case.”

“It was certainly not put to me in any terms like those,” Aurelia answered. “All she said was that you used to be a lifeguard.”

“Right. Let me be frank with you. I was in an accident last year.” Ren tossed her hair back, drawing full attention to the side of her face with the scar. “Some asshole was operating a boat drunk over Memorial Day weekend and uh, _nicked_ me.”

“Christ.”

“Yeah.”   
“Well, Rey didn’t tell me any of that. She just mentioned that you used to do that. We mostly talked about the bed in my room, of all things. And she told me it was your idea.”

There was a brief silence, except for the crashing of the waves.

“Well, what did you think of it?” Ren finally asked.

“Wish I had one like that at home.”

Ren cracked a smile that sent Aurelia’s stomach squirming and flipping as she picked up a strawberry, daintily nibbling at it. Then Ren spoke and Aurelia nearly choked on it--

“It’s big enough for two, you know.” Ren stood, shaking the sand from her backside, watching Aurelia’s eyes go wide. “If that’s your kind of thing. Maybe not. Why don’t you let me know tomorrow?” 

Before Aurelia could even answer, Ren was off again, just like Rey -- heading not back to the street towards the house but continuing from the direction she’d been going originally, south towards the faint glimmer of the Boardwalk, not even looking back to see Aurelia like a fish on a hook, helpless, open-mouthed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! It's been a minute! Thank you all for being so patient! We have returned to our (maybe not so) sweet ladies.


End file.
